Association between waist circumference/body mass index and blood triglyceride level in adults

Objective To explore the association between body mass index(BMI)/waist circumference (WC)and blood triglyceride(TG)level in adults. To evaluate the value of the BMI and WC in diagnosing the hypertriglyceridemia by the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve.Methods A total of 1 093 adults(707men and 356 women)were examined in our hospital from July to September in 2008.Height,weight,WC and blood triglyceride were measured and analyzed.The ROC curve was drawn to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the threshold values.Results The hypertriglyceridemia rate was 33.5%among men and 8.3%among women.The BMI and WC of hypertriglyceridemia group were significantly higher than those of normal TG group for both men and women(P<0.01).The area under ROC curve was 0.728±0.041 for men and 0.708±0.021 for women when using BMI to predict hypertriglyceridemia.The optimal threshold value was 24.5 for men and 22.5 for women.The area under ROC curve was 0.790±0.042 for men and 0.714±0.020 for women when using WC to predict hypertriglyceridemia.The optimal threshold value was 86 cm for men and 77 cm for women.Conclusions Both BMI and WC are associated blood triglyceride level. WC and BMI are useful parameters in predicting hypertriglyceridemia. Key words: Hypertriglyceridemia; Body mass index; Waist circumference; Receiver operating characteristic curve